Parade Grand Marshals

Darrel & corinne olsen

Darrel and Corinne Olsen, lifelong residents of Sanpete County, have been chosen to serve as grand marshals of the Sanpete County Fair Mammoth Parade. The parade will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, and travel along Main Street in Manti. The Olsens are very honored and shocked by the honor of being named the parade grand marshals. They both grew up in Sanpete County (Darrel in Ephraim and Corinne in Manti) and are very proud of the legacy they are part of as children from farming families.

Although they grew up in the same area, they didn’t meet until they were both attending school at the University of Utah. They were married right after Corinne graduated as a pharmacist and Darrel started his residency in family practice. After Darrel finished his education, they were very blessed to find jobs and be able to come back home and be closer to family.

Darrel worked for Intermountain Healthcare as a family physician for 25 years and is now the medical director for the Utah Department of Corrections. He has loved being able to serve the people of the community in this capacity.

Corinne worked at local pharmacies and the hospital, spending most of her time at Anderson Drug where she loved her association with everyone she worked with and served.

The Olsens have been very involved in the community in many capacities, including with 4-H, the Lion’s Club, the Sanpete County Fair Board, the Ephraim Youth City Council, county zoning committees and the PTA. One of their favorite things to do is find ways to serve others, and their kids are always involved in any activity they do. In fact, their kids are quite often the ones in charge of the service they are doing.

One example of this is the Fun on the Farm exhibit at the Sanpete County Fair. This project was born from an idea by their son, Calan, and from a desire of his grandpa, Steve Frischknecht, to bring something like the state fair’s “Little Hands on the Farm” to our fair.

Calan, Darrel and Corinne became fair board members and worked to raise funds and build the exhibit that is now enjoyed by many every year free of charge.

Corinne and Darrel have involved their children in 4-H for many years as they provided workshops on various topics for thousands of other 4-H members. They also involved their kids in teaching monthly science experiments at Ephraim Elementary School.

Their children are always involved in every community service they provide. They feel like there is nothing better than feeling like you may have made a difference somewhere and are very grateful they have had a chance to be involved in such a wonderful community.

Their most treasured accomplishments, however, are their children: Jessica (deceased), Calan, Steven, Samantha, Andrew and Mathew. They have three grandchildren (Alyssa, Declan and Allan) and have been blessed to have Hollie and Tyson join their family as they married their kids.